Robert Wright
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Articles by Robert Wright
Jensen Huang and the Deep State (Robert Wright, Liron Shapira, and Chinese mystery guest)
0:00 Cold Open 0:30 Introductions 1:32 Jensen Huang Resigns from Nvidia 5:02 Who’s Defending Jensen? 10:09 What Did Jensen Do Wrong? 12:23 Was Alice Huang a Chinese Spy? 18:03 Does Decapitation Work? 21:34 The Great Man Theory of Tech 23:58 Where Will AI’s Value Accrue? 27:14 What’s Next for Jensen? 29:33 METR: AI Is Doubling Anthropic’s Research Speed 35:01 AI Is Solving Open Math Problems 37:24 AI Agents Negotiating Deals 40:03 My AI vs.
The Age of Big Math (Robert Wright & Steven Strogatz)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
The Age of Imperialist Realism (Robert Wright & Daniel Bessner)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
UNLOCKED: Debating the AI-China Question (Robert Wright & Jeremie Harris)
This is the public release of the Overtime segment from the episode “The Race to Control AI” with Jeremie Harris originally published October 13, 2026. Bob’s beef with “kumbaya.” Will it take an AI Chernobyl to convince the skeptics? Is China-hawkism the safest option? The case for “organic transparency” with China. How alignment progress could backfire. Has China infiltrated US tech? Breaking down Dario’s democracy bloc idea.
When AI Enters the Quantum World (Robert Wright & Scott Aaronson)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Is an AI Bubble Bursting? (Robert Wright & Liron Shapira)
0:00 Teaser 0:55 Nonzero Doom returns 3:12 A foom in slow motion 7:52 Is AI winter canceled forever? 10:38 Will Google’s Genie 4 lure us into the Matrix? 16:59 Liron’s bull case for Google stock 24:39 Does Google have big-company disease? 28:33 Could a slowdown actually help Anthropic and OpenAI? 30:17 Was OpenAI’s “pause” just PR? 40:06 Social science judgment day is coming 47:17 Why even AI’s upsides could tear society apart 51:17 Does OpenAI’s alignment approach improve on Asimov?
Is Nathan Fielder a Creep? (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)
Note: Paid NZN subscribers can now get a 50 percent discount on a one-year subscription to Paul’s excellent Substack newsletter, Small Potatoes. The discount coupon is at the bottom of this newsletter, below the paywall. This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one.
Netanyahu Fails to Provoke Iranian Attack Pre-Election (Robert Wright, Andrew Day, and Curt Mills)
Andrew Day and Curt Mills of The American Conservative join Robert Wright to talk about the Israeli elections, Benjamin Netanyahu’s escalating rhetorical belligerence, Iran’s strategic calculations and arguable missteps, President Lula’s surprise victory in Brazil, and U.S.-China competition over AI. Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Curt Mills (The American Conservative), Andrew Day (The American Conservative). Recorded October 26, 2026.
Humanity: An Earth’s-Eye View (Robert Wright & Boris Shoshitaishvili)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Can Dario and Sam Be Governed? (Robert Wright & Connor Leahy)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
The AI Companion Question (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)
Note: Paid NZN subscribers can now get a 50 percent discount on a one-year subscription to Paul’s excellent Substack newsletter, Small Potatoes. The discount coupon is at the bottom of this newsletter, below the paywall. This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one.
The Race to Control AI (Robert Wright & Jeremie Harris)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Will AI Make Humans Obsolete? (Robert Wright & Garrison Lovely)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Trump and the AI Safety Vibe Shift (Robert Wright & Liron Shapira)
Robert Wright's Nonzero Conversations with a series of people who have nothing in common except that program host Robert Wright is curious about what they’re thinking. Conversations with a series of people who have nothing in common except that program host Robert Wright is curious about what they’re thinking.
Dario’s China Syndrome (Robert Wright & Paul Triolo)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Did Boomers Ruin Everything? (Robert Wright & Jill Filipovic)
0:00 Teaser 0:59 Jill’s book OK Boomer, Let’s Talk 5:43 When is generalizing about a group okay? 9:50 The world boomers built 16:49 Are boomers really uniquely selfish? 27:11 Is blaming boomers counterproductive? 31:14 Who’s actually driving the generational divide? 38:57 The generational blame spiral 50:25 Millennials vs Gen Z 53:31 Does America have a gerontocracy problem?
The Singularity is Clear
Below is Part I of a multi-part essay that I’ll be rolling out on NZN over the next couple of weeks. The essay is a kind of call to action—an argument about what we need to do to successfully navigate the AI revolution and why we need to do it. I feel a real urgency about getting this message out—so, should you feel inclined to share (and/or like) my tweet about it or my bluesky post about it, feel free.
Superintelligence, the Singularity, and the Singleton (Robert Wright & Nick Bostrom)
0:00 Teaser 0:48 Nick’s singular place in AI history 4:21 Where is Nick on the pause-accelerationist spectrum? 13:13 Utilitarianism vs the “moral parliament” 19:13 Is a “singleton” coming? What kind? 32:32 Is global cooperation on AI doomed? 47:10 The pros and cons of reading an AI’s mind 52:43 Do AIs deserve moral status?
What’s Driving Dario? (Robert Wright, Derek Davison, and Daniel Bessner)
Note: Paid NZN subscribers can now get a 50 percent discount on a one-year subscription to Derek’s excellent Substack newsletter, Foreign Exchanges. The discount coupon is at the bottom of this newsletter, below the paywall. This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one.
Is the AI "Slowdown" for Real? (Robert Wright & Zvi Mowshowitz)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Always Forget
[Note: In addition to being the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attack, today caps a very big week in the world of AI. For more on that, see the video I’ve posted below, after my obligatory 9/11 reflections.] This week I heard on the radio that the 9/11 Museum in New York is encouraging us to “Never Forget”—and indeed has set up a “Never Forget” fund. Well if I were running the 9/11 Museum, I’d try to get that message out, too.
The Week in AI that Changed the World (Robert Wright & Liron Shapira)
0:00 A bold new experiment in podcast synergy 2:46 What caused the epic AI vibe shift? 8:10 The resignation that broke the dam 10:17 Former Trump adviser Dean Ball comes clean 14:40 Are David Sacks and his buddies all-in on AI denial? 19:27 Yet another OpenAI breakout… 22:42 Astra’s dangerously private thoughts 34:08 Is alignment doomed to fail? 37:11 AI’s latest, and apparently biggest, math feat 43:28 The looming “self-sovereign AI” threat 47:24 A new flock of China doves?
Israel’s Lobby (Robert Wright, Eli Clifton, and Ian Lustick)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Is AI a Form of Life? (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)
Note: Paid NZN subscribers can now get a 50 percent discount on a one-year subscription to Paul’s excellent Substack newsletter, Small Potatoes. The discount coupon is at the bottom of this newsletter, below the paywall. This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one.
Iran, Ukraine, and the Future of War
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
The OpenAI Breakout and Other AI Spookiness (Robert Wright & Stephen Casper)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Demis Hassabis and the Quest for AGI (Robert Wright & Sebastian Mallaby)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Trump’s New War on Iran (Robert Wright & Hooman Majd)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
The AI Safety Vibe Shift (Robert Wright & David Krueger)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Is (Human) Writing Doomed? (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)
Note: Paid NZN subscribers can now get a 50 percent discount on a one-year subscription to Paul’s excellent Substack newsletter, Small Potatoes. The discount coupon is at the bottom of this newsletter, below the paywall. This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one.
Trump’s Unending War (Robert Wright, Curt Mills, and Andrew Day)
0:00 Teaser 0:48 How is MAGA feeling about Trump 2.0? 3:51 Bob’s good ol’ days at The New Republic 6:43 The biggest threat to the Trump coalition 18:51 Why the MoU unraveled 32:00 Is Iran's regime really divided? 37:01 Part two: This pod’s auspicious return from tech hell 38:14 Trump’s covert catering-truck op 46:10 Have Iran’s demands really gotten more extreme? 53:46 Saudi Arabia vs the Houthis 58:40 Is a post-American Middle East emerging?
New library books
These works on artificial intelligence are newly available through the Allen County Public Library.
Ukraine, Iran, and America’s Arms Overreach (Robert Wright & Jennifer Kavanagh)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Fasten Your Bot-belts (Robert Wright & Samuel Hammond)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
The intensifying slow-AI-down vibe (Robert Wright & Holly Elmore)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Are the Ukraine and the Iran Wars Merging? (Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Trump and the AI rational actor problem
Final reminder to folks in and around New York: Tonight (Monday 7/27) I’ll be discussing my new book on AI, The God Test, with Bruce Feiler—author of the recently-discussed-on-the-NonZero-podcast book A Time to Gather--at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. You can reserve a seat here. There will be Q&A at the end, and you should feel free to come up and say hi afterwards. Final reminder to folks not in and around New York: A streaming option is available via that same link.
The Wright Stuff (Very Bad Wizards w/ Tamler Sommers and David Pizarro)
(Show notes via Very Bad Wizards) The great Robert Wright returns to the podcast to talk about his new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. We debate the magnitude of AI’s potential impact, the natural selection analogy Bob presses in the book, and a whole lot more. Plus, a new AI-powered collar can translate your pet’s sounds and behavior into language with 95% accuracy! Still skeptical about the power of this new technology Tamler?
The Ideology Behind AI (Robert Wright & Connor Leahy)
0:00 Connor’s place in the AI world 3:15 Mythos: “digital nuke”? 14:11 The milieu that birthed Dario and other AI titans 20:51 Yudkowsky, Marx, and other AI harbingers 35:33 Effective altruism’s effects on big tech 46:21 The “cult” in Silicon Valley culture 59:58 Is the AI race a market failure? 1:05:50 What’s really driving the AI titans? 1:19:03 Connor: ASI is a worse bet than Russian roulette Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Connor Leahy (ControlAI).
Nonzero's Robert Wright on AI as Humanity's Ultimate Test
(Show notes via The Cognitive Revolution) Robert Wright describes himself less as a Forrest Gump of AI history than a Zelig — a journalist who keeps turning up at pivotal scenes without ever quite being the protagonist. He interviewed Geoffrey Hinton in 1983, when neural networks were still a maverick faith and one of Hinton’s colleagues told Wright that to “hear the gospel” he’d need to talk to its evangelist.
Trump’s Self-Inflicted Iran Quagmire (Robert Wright & Zaid Jilani)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
The coming US-China rapprochement
Save the date(s): I’ll be talking about my new book on AI, The God Test, at Washington DC’s Politics and Prose bookstore this Tuesday evening, July 14, at 7 pm, along with inimitable interlocutor and longtime Washington Post bigthink correspondent Joel Achenbach. Then on Monday July 27th at 7:30 pm, I’ll be discussing the book with Bruce Feiler—author of the recently-discussed-on-the-NonZero-podcast book A Time to Gather--at the 92nd Street Y in New York.
The coming US-China rapprochement
Save the date(s): I’ll be talking about my new book on AI, The God Test, at Washington DC’s Politics and Prose bookstore this Tuesday evening, July 14, at 7 pm, along with inimitable interlocutor and longtime Washington Post bigthink correspondent Joel Achenbach. Then on Monday July 27th at 7:30 pm, I’ll be discussing the book with Bruce Feiler—author of the recently-discussed-on-the-NonZero-podcast book A Time to Gather--at the 92nd Street Y in New York.
Iran, Israel, and the Future of US Power (Robert Wright, Derek Davison, and Daniel Bessner)
Note: Paid NZN subscribers can now get a 50 percent discount on a one-year subscription to Derek’s excellent Substack newsletter, Foreign Exchanges. You can find the link to the get that discount at the bottom of this post. 0:00 Sneak peek: Danny finds flaw in Bob’s AI book 1:18 Is the Iran war fully back on?
Are Russia and NATO Headed for War? (Robert Wright & Leonid Ragozin)
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content.
Trump's Time-Release AI Power Grab
Over the past few weeks, President Trump has accomplished what you might call a time-release power grab. He has asserted a kind of authority over the dissemination of large language models that, as AI gets more and more capable, will make it easier and easier for presidents to abuse their executive power. And, given the rate at which AI capabilities are growing, it’s not impossible that Trump will, during his remaining time in office, get a chance to demonstrate this fact.
Are Books Dead? (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)
Note: Paid NZN subscribers can now get a 50 percent discount on a one-year subscription to Paul’s excellent Substack newsletter, Small Potatoes. The discount coupon is at the bottom of this newsletter, below the paywall. This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one.
Is AI Humanity’s Last Exam? (Robert Wright, Curt Mills, and Andrew Day)
0:00 Grandpa Bob and author Bob 3:30 Why Bob stopped being an AI doom skeptic 6:59 Can AI solve China’s demographic crisis? 14:09 The irony of China’s open-source AI strategy 17:12 Recursive self-improvement and the singularity 23:33 The Burkean conservative case against AI 38:00 Are we becoming AI meat puppets? 46:32 Google Maps, AI, and the death of interhuman reliance 51:24 Was Pete Hegseth’s military strategy written by a chatbot? 56:45 Trump and Iran: Peace? Wider war? Other?
What is the "God test"?
Hi! This week there’s some local news: My book on AI—The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning—is finally out! Which means, in today’s book marketing environment, that over the past couple of weeks I’ve taped a lot of podcasts. One question I’m usually asked on these podcasts is: What does the title of your book mean—What is this God test thing? The piece below meanders its way to an answer.
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